smith



3 SheetsSheet 1.

J. 0. SMITH. LOOM FOR WEAVING PALM LEAF.

No. 79,923. Patented July 14, 1868.

3 Sheets$heet 2.

J. 0. SMITH. LOOM FOR WBAVING PALM LEAR.

Patented July 14, 17868.

dal k W 3 Sheets-Sheet 3.

J. 0. SMITH.

LOOM P011 WEAVING PALM LEAF.

No. 79,923. Patented July 1.4, 1868.

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WW3 S66 l om goiter: totes gaunt @ffitef J'OHNG. SMITH, OF CHIGOPEE,ASSIGNOR 'lO HIMSELF AND L. D. HILLS, OF

' AMHERST,- MASSACHUSETTS.

Letters Patent No; 79,923, dated July 14, 1868.

LOOM FOR WEAVING PALM-LEAF.

TO ALL WHOM IT MAY CONCERN:

Be it known that 1, JOHN 0. SMITH, of Ohicopee, in the county ofHampden, and State of Massachusetts, have invented a. new and usefulImprovement in Looms for Weaving Palm-Leaf, and other similar fabrics;and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exactdescription thereof, reference being bad to the accompanyingdrawings,.and the letters of reference marked thereon, in which- Figure1 is a front elevation of a. loom made pursuant to my invention.

Figure2 is'a top view of the some.

Figure 3 is a vertical scction, through the line a; x, fig. 2. I

Figure 4 is a section of feed-trough O, with the oscillating-box Uremoved therefrom, being a topview.

Figure 5 is a detached view of heart-cam D, and a section of-'the.lever-arm It, which gives motion to the reciprocating picker-rod.

Figure 6 is a detached view of the pincers or wert-carrier.

v Figure 7 is a cr.oss-s ection of the feed-trough and oscillating-box,showing, also, the connecting-rods to operate the oscillating-box, andthehooks e e, and a figure representing the cam-grooves in the twowheels, B and B. As both of said wheels are'on the same shaft, withtheir cam-grooved sides facing each other, one figure is used torepresent both, the dotted lines showing the cam-grooves in each,designated by the letters B and 13 Figure 8 is anoth'e'r cross-sectionof the feed-trough and oscillating-box through line y, fig. 4.

Figure 9 is a detached view of wheel I, with its collar, P, mountedloosely on shaft F, and of starswheel Q.

Figure 10 is,a detnched view of the harness-treadlcs, the cams whichoperate them, (mounted on shaft F,) and the two gear-wheels Q. and 1-.

Figure II is a. view of'tho 0nd of the warp-beam,- with thotonsion-strap and spring passing round said roller, and connecting withthe main frame.

\ Like letters indicate thesaine parts of the machine in all thefigures.

In weaving palm-leaf fabrics, the leaf is first split into thin, fiatstrips, of uniform width and thickness, and out into uniform lengths,those composing the woof into lengths equal to the width of the web tobe woven. Herctofore, these fabrics have been commonly woven inhand-looms, each strip of the woof being placed by hand in theshed,'to-rcceive the blow of the reed. By means of my invention, thenecessity of placing said strips in the shed by hand is obviated, as themachine introduccsthcm automatically.

In the accompanying drawings- A is the main frauie, B the driving-shaft,and A the lay.

G is a concave feed-trough, in which the strips of palm-leaf are laid,in mass, to be fed into the shed.

C is an oscillating-box, oscillating on 'a pivot, a which is concentricwith the concavity in the feed trough 0.

That par t of the bottom of the concave trough C which is immediatelyunder the oscillating-box G is raiscdby an abrupt offset, 0 about thethickness of a strip of the palm-leaf as prepared for the web, andthrough said raised portion of the bottom, in the centre of the concave,there is a longitudinal groove, 0, about the width and depth of a stripof the palm-leaf at its rear end, but cut clear through the bottom ofthe trough at its front end, forming an'npen slot.

Said box Q is made to oscillate by means of a rod, :1, pivoted to it ata, with a stud on the reverse end, working in a cam-groove, I), in thewheel B, on the main shaft B, and said rod slides in a guide, f.

The bo x G is open at its bottom, and at both ends, forming a cavity, Cfig. 8, in which the strips of palmlcaf are held, and the whole masscontained therein will necessarily move to the right and left,laterally, on the bottom of the trough 'O, as the box oscillatestherein, and thereby a strip of the palm-leaf is worked down into saidgroove. and as soon as it is drawn out, another is worked down in likemanner.

D isi'asliding weight, on, the rear end of saidbox O, to-keep the stripsof palm-leaf pressed down on the bottom of thetrough C with an equabl'eand uniform pressure. The bottom of this'slidingweight is convex,corresponding with the concavity of the trough O, andit-oscillateswiththe box 0, being attached thereto by a tongue andgrooved connections so that it will freely slide up and down, withoutbecoming detached.

In the bottom ofthe trough C, under the oscillating-box, there is anopen slot, d, across the longitudinal groove 0, and from this cross-slotto the front and of the trough C, the groove 0 is cut clear through thebottom of the trough, forming an open slot. I I

Two hooks, e e, operate in the cross-slot d, at the proper time, toseize the strip of palm-leaf lying in the groove, and draw it down belowthe mass, in proper position to be seized by the pincers orweft-carrier, as hereinafter described These hooks are operated by rodse"e ,-hoth pivotedto a ro(l,'e, working in guidef, and to which motionis'given by a stud,f,'working in a earn-groove, B, in the wheel B, onthe mainshaft B. The hooks e e seize and draw downa strip of thepalm-leaf ius't before the picker makes its pick, which is effected bythe form of thp cam-groove in the wheel 13; p v

Immediately under thefeed-trongh C, and a little in front f the hooks ee, is a sliding bar, a, fig. 8, to which a short sliding motion isgiven,- longitudinally, by means-of a pin projecting from the upper endof the rod e working in a slotted projection, 21, from the under side ofsaid bar 1).- In-theupper side of said bar 1; is a recess, 1), toreceive a strip of the palm-leaf when drawn downby the hoolrs'e e.'-Said bar '0 so moves in concert with said hooks e c, that-when the hooksoperate to draw down a strip',the recess a is immediately under the slotin the bottom of the feed-trough, and. receives the strip, but as scenesthe strip has been drawn out, by the picker, it moves back, so that thestraight or plain portion of its upper side comes under the slot, andprevents themext stripentering the groove 0 from falling too low in theslotted porti on thereof. The said recess a", is wider at the bottomthan the top, so that if the pincer fails to draw out its strip, thebar 1) will move without breaking or heading the strip thus left in saidrecess.

Thespiucerconsists of a pair of pineers, m, on the end of areciprocating rod, This rod movesbackand forth through 'the shed, and itreceives its motion from a heart-cam, D, on one end of the driving-shaftB, by means of a lever, 7t, pivoted to the main frame at It, fig. 2,which has a stud at one end workjng in a groove, z, fig. 5, in-saidheart-oam'D' The other'end of said lever 'h'is pivoted to aconnecting-rod, It, the other-end of which connecting-rodispivoted toanangular lever, j, turning on a fulcrumepironj', on an arm, (1, extending.omthe main 'framo'A. Ill-I119 upper end of. said angular leverj is -aslot, k, embracing a stud, k, in a sliding block, H, which carries thereciprocating pincer-rod to and fro, said block H sliding on, guide-rodsH and H,- both of which it. embraces.

.The pincers consist of a lever-jaw, m, pivoted to the front end. of thereciprocating rod G bya fulcrumpivot, it. Under the rear end ofthelever-jaw m is a spring, 71', which .keeps the front end of the jawclosely pressed'down on the end of .the pincer-rod, (forming the underjaw of the pincers,) except when pressure is applied to the rear enditodepress the spring 2', and cause the npper jaw'to rise..

In front of the plate 0 which covers the front end of theoscillating-box C, is s. pendent latch, t", turning outwardlfrom' thebox C freely, on a pivot, 15, but prevented from turning in the otherdirection by a stop-arm, l, the end of which bears against'the 'plateO.

As :the rod G moves forward to take a'strip of palm-leaf, the lower endof the lstchj, coming 'in contact with the inclined plane on the rearend of the lev,er-jaw m,-dcpresses said rear end, causing the jaws toopen. Therear endof the'l'ever-jaw m passes the latch i just as the-rodG is finishing its forward movement,'when the spring 1 causes the'frontend suddenly to close down, seizing the end of the strip, which has beenpresented for that purpose by the hooks e e." As the rod G moves back,the latch 2" swings out, freely, ,and allows the'leverjawm 'to pass bywith'oht depressing its rear end. As soon as the weft-carrier has drawnthe stripto its proper position in the shed, the jaw m passes under aprojection from the side-bar of the lay, and the inclined plane on therear end of said lever-jawcoming in contact with said projection, isdepressed. causinL' the front end to rise, and release its hold upon thestrip;

The machine is so constructed rind arranged-that if, from any cause, thepincer accidentallyfails to seize and; draw out a strip, the cloth-beamand harness will stop until it makes another and successful pick. I willnow proceed to describe the mechanismby which this is effected. l p

N is a lever, pivoted, at 'n, to an-hrm projecting from the side-bar ofthe lay, next to the feed-trough. This lever is carried to'and fro bythe lay, and its rear end rides andslides upon the end of an uprightlever, R., It

hasanotch, n, on the lower side-of its rear end, and an incline,n',-imme'diately'i n the'rear of said notch, When the lay lies back, inthe position shown in fig. ii ghe'lcver N rests, near its fulcrum, onthe upper end of l'e'ver'R which holds said lever N in a'ne'arlyhorizontal position. As'the lnybegins to move forward, thepincerbcginstorecedc from the feed-trough, and, if it hns seized and drawn outastrip of the-palm-leaf, said strip, crossing above tho.fr ont end ofsaid lever N,'will hold it down, chasing the notch 11. tojpass the endof lever R without engaging therewith; but, if the pincer fails to drawout a strip as soon as it ("the pincer) passes.

- the front end of said lover N, therejs nothing to prevent the heavierrear cnd'of said lever from falling down and riding upon the upper endof said lever B. Consequently, the notch n will engagewithithe upper endof lever R, and draw it forward, causing the cloth-beam to stoprevolving, as follows: The cloth-beam E is rotated by means of a pawl,E, the rear end'of which is connected with a cam on the outer end ofshaft F by'means of a cam-yoke. .The front end of the-pawl E engageswith a ra'tch et-\v lieel', -E, geared, by means ofpinions o and o',with the cloth-beam At each revolution of the shaftF, the pawl E",operated hy the cam on said shaftl F, moves the ratchet-wheel El th'eextent of one tooth, and this wheel, by its gearing, rotates thecloth-beam, as before stated. Projecting from the lower end of lever R,at right angles, is an .urm, R, (shown most distinctly in fig. 1,) whichextendsla little beyond the outside of the main Frame, and under thesaid pawl E. When the can: 3

weft-carrier fails to draw out a strip, and the rear end of lever Nconsequently fallsdown, so that its notch n will engage with the upperend of lever R, and draw it forward, as heretofore described, said arm'R, projecting from the lower end of said lever, will move back under theinclined pawl E, raising its front end, so as to clear the teeth of theratchet-wheel, and so the cloth-beam will cease to be rotatedby saidpawl and ratchet-wheel.

I will now proceed to explain how the failure of the picker to draw outa strip stops the harness, as well as the cloth-beam. The harness isoperated hymeans of cams O and O,"inounted on o. shaft, F, which lies inthe same longitudinal plane with the shaft F, the inner ends of said twoshafts meeting at 2. On the inner end of the shaft F is a loose colla'ror'sleevo, P, on which is mounted a wheel, P. Projecting from the sideof this wl'eel P is a pin or ciankovrist, p, which engages alternatelywith four notches orslots, p, in a star-wheel, Q,

revolving-on a separate shaft, q, so that,.when said wheel P revolveswith the shaft F, it will, at each revolution; turn-the star-wheel Q,one-fourth of a'revolution by means of said crank-pin p engaging withone of the slots, 12', in the star-wheel. On the'sameshaft with thestar-wheel Q is a cog-wheel, Q,-whi ch engages with a pinion, r, on theshaft F, which operates the harness by means of the cams O and O.Pivoted to the lower end of lever B, and extendingback horizontally, ornearly so, is a rod or arm, R the rear end of which is pivoted,

at r, to a pendent latch or stop, J. K is a clutch, pivoted to a wheel,K, which is also mounted on the loose collar or sleeve 1?. Under one endof this clutch is a spring, a, having its seat in a stud projecting fromthe side of said wheel K, which presses a spline or cog, s, on the otherend of the clutch, down upon a fixed collar, t, on the shaft F, so thatit will engage with a notch or slot, t, in said fixed collar, causingthe shaft-F and its loose collar P, with the wheels P and K, to rotatetogether, except when said clutch is disengaged, as hereinafterdescribed. When the lower end of said lever B. vibrates rearward, the'pendent latch or stop J also vibrates in the same direction until itslower end rests against the end of a rigid bar, M. While 'the latch isin this position, will hold the spring-end of the clutch down, so as toprevent the spline or cog on its other end from engaging with the notchor slot' t, and will also prevent the loose collar P from revolving,astho clutch cannot pass under' the end of the latch J while it is -inthis position, and. so the shaft F will rotate without operating theshaft F, on which the cams that operate the harness are mounted. Now,-itwill be seen that, if thenveftcarrier fails to draw out a strip, theleverN will fall down on the lever R, as hereinbefore explained, so thatthe notch 12. will engage the upper end of said leuer R, and draw itforward as the lay makes its stroke, thereby causing the lower end ofsaid lever B to vibratcrearwarcl, pushing the latch J back against theend of bar- M, pressing down the spring-endof the clutch K, so as toprevent its oppositeendfrom engaging with the notch or slot 23 inthefixed collar ton sjhaft F, and'thereby causing said shaft F torevolve without rotating the shaft P, which operates the harness;consequently, the motion of the'harness must cease.

The lay is operated by two cranks, T T, on the main shaft B,'withconnecting-rods 6, so that the lay makes one forwardand one .backwardlnovement to each revolution of said main shaft. The heart-cam D, on theend ofv said shaft, also operates the reciprocating pincer-rod G, sothat it makes one forward and one Ibackward movement to each revolutionof the main driving-shaft B. The harness is also so geared that it makesbut one change to one revolution of said main shaft, or while theweft-carrier goes through the shed and returns. This is ell'ected asfollows The harness is operated by the cams O and O acting alternatelyon treadles z and x. At each half revolution of the shaft F, one-or theother of said cams will operate on its treadic, bringing down theharness, to which it is connected, and, of course, carrying upthe other,as they are both suspended by the same straps,passi ng over pulleys, Theshaft F and the main shaft 13 are so geared together, by means ofcogwheels ofequal size, Wand W,,that they will rotate alike. Eachrevolution of theshaft F. turns the star. wheel Q one-fourth of arevolution, as has jbeen heretofore explained; and the said star-wheelis so geared with the shaft F, by means of the cog-wheel Q and thepinion 1-, that onc-fourtirof'a revolution of the star-wheel causesone-half a revolution of the shaft F, and, consequently, one cha'nge ofthe harness to one revolution of the main shaft B, and while thereciprocating weft-carrier and the lay each make one forwardand onebackward movement. On said star-wheel-Q are four eoncaves, u,between-the slots 19. Thcloose collar P has a notch or cavity, it, inone side, and, when the star-wheel is making its quarter revolution, theprojecting spur of said star-wheel enters said notch or cavity,and sopas'scsthe collar P, but during all the remainder of the revolution ofsaid collar P i t fits into one oftbe con'cavitios between the spurs ofthe star-wheel, andprevents the possibility of its revolving furtheruntil the pin or crank-wrist again comes round and enters one o t theslots 1; of the star-wheel. By this means, the possibility oi' anymovement of the harness, except at the proper time, is effectuallyprevent-ed. I

On the side-bar of the lay next to the'fecd-trough, in close proximityto the lever N, is a proyecting arm, 3 with an open slot, 3 just wideenough to receive the strip and held it flat, the front end of the leverN hearing against its lower side at the same time, and tending also toprevent it from turning or twisting.

1' is thewairp-beam, and Yis a tension-strap, passing round one end oftlie same, and attached to the main frame A by aspiral spring, 1'? Z isa nipping-roller, (the outer surface of which is of rubber or some otherelastic substance) attached to the shaft of the warp-beam Y by mca-ns oflinks Z. These linlts are so loosely fitted outh e shaft of thewarp-heam as to allow them to turn thereon and thejournals of thenipping-roller Z have their bearings in the other ends of' thc saidlinks. The warps are held firmly between the nipping-roller andwarp-seam Y, so that they will only be fed forward as the warp-beamrevolves, and will not slip between it and the nipping-roller. Thetension of the strap and spring, Y and Y, maybe adjusted by atemper-screw or.

any other suitable means, so that the warp-beam shall revolvewith'suflicient freedom, without causing any undue strain upon the warp.The strips of palm-leaf composing the warp are necessarily oi'liuiitedlength, and renuire to be spliced as the weaving progresses. Hence, thenecessity of the nipping-roller, to hold the warps to tleir places, byits pressure or pinching, upon the warp-beam, leaving the rear end ofthose strips which are in the loom free, so that others may be splieedthereon while they are being woven into the web. Z is a small roller,crossing the frame in front of thenipping-roller, to prevent it fromgoing too far forward. 4 Having thus fully described my macbineand itsmode ofoperation, what '1 claim as my invention, anddesire tosecure byLetters Patent, is v 1. In combination with a reciprocatingweft-carrier, the feed-trough and oscillating-box, constructedsubstantially as and for the purpose set forth. I V

2.- Incombination with the feed-troughand oscillating-box,- the slidingweights D, substantially as antl for the'purpose described. v

3. Ineombination with the feed-trough and weft-carrier, the hooks e e,operating substantially as and-fon the purpose specified.

' 4. In combination with the feed-trough, weft-carrier; and hookse ortheir equivalents, the sliding bar 11, substantially as'aL nd-for thepurpose set forth."

5.;Thc mechanism, substantially as described, for causing the cloth-beamand harness to s'topwhen the pineers fail to make a. successful pick.

6. The slotted arm 3/, attached to the lay, to receive the strip ofpalm-leaf, and prevent it from'turning or twisting, substantially asdescribed. I i

7. The lever J, so arranged that it will bearagainst the lower side ofthe strip of woof while the same is being (lrawn into the shed, andthereby tend to prevent it from twisting or turnipg.

' JOHN' O. SMITH. Witnesses:

S. F. Srnnnms, Geo. D. ROBINSON.

